Kiss in the Water
by Enchiladas
Summary: Clara finds herself in the library, where she witnesses the strongest man she knows break down over the Ponds. Whouffle. One-shot.


**A/N: Hey guys! I am back with a one-shot in hand. I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who, Whouffle would have happened AGES ago.**

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Clara was beginning to think she would never cook a souffle right. She had tried _everything. _For the sake of the TARDIS she had even tried kooky ingredients the Doctor had suggested, like Slytheen eggs, or New Earth grass, but it would never turn out right.

This disaster, she had almost tried dumping the Doctor into the mixing bowl, but decided that would not be a very nice thing to do to the quasi-man that takes her across the Universe.

She considered it.

After snuffing out the fire that had manifested into existence, Clara left the kitchen. She had entered the kitchen through the control room, but she came out in the pool. As in, she walked into a giant rectangle full of water. Apparently the TARDIS still doesn't like her.

"Stupid "cat" shit... I always did hate cats..." Clara murmured while clambering out of the pool, soggy and irritated.

After grabbing a towel, Clara waddled down the hall looking for the Doctor so she could tell him off about his stupid machine. Occasionally, she stopped to look on the walls for the very small chance that a map would appear randomly in the middle of the TARDIS like in a zoo.

Her hopes were diminished.

Clara was getting angrier and angrier by the moment, so she found a door and burst through it, not caring if she got carpet wet. Her eyes were greeted with the sight of the TARDIS's most prized room; the library.

The room was massive. There was no other way to put it. There had to be millions of books in there. If she didn't know any better, she would think the library was just a planet full of books. But of course, that would be absurd... The room was the definition of grandeur, but Clara would never say any of this aloud. The pool trick was still on her nerves.

The library had never ending ceilings, and warm, dim lighting, that made everything a little fuzzy. She liked that. It looked like the room was designed by Daedalus. Typical. At least there were no Minotaurs popping out of nowhere. She really hoped there weren't any other monsters instead. You never know what to expect with the Doctor.

She wandered through the maze of books, forgetting about being soaked and irate. Clara paged through many of the books that caught her attention, questioning internally why someone would write a book on the connections between the taste of hair and jelly babies. Once she realized she was getting the books wet, and the Doctor would probably piss a cow once he found out, she rapidly closed the books, put them back in place, and hoped no one would ever find out.

Jesus, it would be funny.

"Get back on track Oswald, you're looking for the Doctor," She scolded herself.

Clara eventually found herself on the outskirts of the center of the labyrinth. In the heart of the library, there was a small area that looked cozy and warm, with comfy chairs and a coffee table.

And then there was the Doctor.

The Doctor had that damned fez on again, but that wasn't what worried her. He was reading one of those novels that you expect to find in the hands of a Hipster at a coffee shop, sitting in a comfy chair. It was called Melody Melone. For some odd, reason the book had dirt all over it, but Clara payed that no attention.

He was reading a page that had been ripped out at some point, and had tears in his eyes. He had those weird Harry Potter glasses that he sometimes wears, on. All Clara could make out from where she was standing, was the word, "Afterward," in bold print.

"I miss you Pond," whispered the Doctor.

Clara was terrified. She has never seen the Doctor so vulnerable. He was quirky, and sometimes a bit scary, but never vulnerable.

Thank God he hadn't noticed her yet.

Clara thought it would be best to leave right now, and not risk being caught spying, so she started creeping towards where she came from, and ended up stubbing her toe on a behemoth of a book.

"Damn it!" Clara yelled before she could stop herself.

_Damn it indeed, Oswald. Genius idea to stub your toe._

_Oh shut up._

The Doctor turned with a start at the ungodly noise of Clara cussing like a sailor.

"Doctor," Clara said flustered, "I didn't notice you there... Um.. I was just leaving, so um, bye!"

The Doctor was just as flustered, as he put on his normal goofy facade and said, "Okay! Nice to see you, I'll just get back to... to... Fixing this novel! Yes, that's what I'm doing!"

Clara fast walked away, to escape the awkwardness, but abruptly stopped when she heard dry-sobs.

"Damn it," she mumbled.

Clara, turned around back to the cozy epicenter, and found the Doctor in the same position as before.

"Doctor..." She said quietly.

The Doctor was startled once again. His eyes hardened, "Clara I thought you were leaving,"

"Doctor, we both know you're grieving, and I want you to tell me why."

"It's nothing..."

"Yes, it is something! Why the hell else would I find you secluded crying and moaning about a pond! You tell me what is going on right now, or I will make you eat one of my souffles!" Clara was getting angry. Nothing hurts the Doctor without hearing from her. Of course, nothing has hurt him before to her knowledge, but still. The Doctor is hers. Not that she would ever admit that.

The Doctor looked at the fuzzy, carpeted floor, while he searched for something to say.

"Doctor," Clara said softly, while sitting down next to him. She put her hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Tell me what's wrong."

"I- I had these friends..." the Doctor began, "They were funny, smart, and... and just perfect. You're perfect too, Clara, but just in a different way..."

Clara nodded in understanding.

"There was the ginger... she was a feisty one," he smiled, "In a way, she was the first face I ever saw... I first met her when she was seven. I was a bit disoriented at the time, and the TARDIS had just crashed. I had a hell of a day before... I guess you could say I died. Part of me at least... That's a story for another time."

Clara was getting more confused by the second, but at least he was telling her the truth.

"Amelia Jessica Pond... I told her when we first met that her name sounded like a fairy tale character," The Doctor's smile grew into a grin, "After I discovered the food of the Gods, I went to fix up the TARDIS. I told her I would be gone five minutes, then come back and take her on an adventure."

The Doctor frowned, "I was gone twelve years. I will always regret that... The TARDIS has owed me for doing that a long time now. When I came back, she didn't believe me at first... She thought I was an imaginary friend. She called me the Raggedy Doctor."

Tears grew in his eyes once again, "I fixed the crack in her wall... Well I thought I did... then I promised I would be back the next morning to take her on an adventure like I did oh so long ago. It was two years for her... At least I came back! Anyways, we had a few adventures together. Then she tried to have... you know... with me right before her wedding night. So I got her fiancé with the incredibly long nose."

He started laughing, while Clara involuntarily scowled at the thought of someone having sex with the Doctor... Wait, did she just think that? Bad Oswald!

"His name was Rory. He liked to die a lot. Needless to say, they got married and we had a hell of a great time saving worlds, having dopplegangers, being pirates, and investigating weird black cubes..."

The Doctor suddenly froze up. "And then we went to New York." his teeth were starting to bare and the years started again, "If I hadn't have taken them to stupid New York, they would still be here! Hell, If I hadn't been stupid with Rose, or Martha, or Donna, or Ace, or Sarah Jane, or Peri, or _Susan_ for God's sake they all would be here! But nooooooo. No, no, no. The Doctor can't have friends he has to save the Universe without any thanks and have his only friends, family, and loves, be taken away from him!" the Doctor was now screaming.

"It's only a matter of time until I lose you!" the Doctor shouted.

Clara was crying with him. Hell, she loved him. There was no use in denying it."Doctor stop it right now! I don't care how you lost these people, if they were lost with you, they must not regret it!"

The Doctor caressed her cheek and whispered, "Clara you don't understan-" he was interrupted.

"Don't give me this 'Clara you don't understand,' shit! I have lost people too! It made me stronger! If you moped around all the time and did nothing every time someone you loved died, universes would be condemned! _You'd _be the death of trillions of beings! Buck up God dammit! I love you!"

Clara hadn't realized what she was saying it until she announced it to the world. She was about to apologize, leave, and act like this never happened when she was rudely interrupted by a pair of lips.

It was a wet and salty kiss, seeing as they were both sobbing buckets, but a kiss nonetheless. It was sweet, with that electric shock that people say they get, but neither of the two believed until now.

The Doctor slowly brought himself away, looked into her beautiful brown eyes, and said to her, "Clara Oswald, I love you too, and I will never _ever _lose you."

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**A/N: Sooooo... That's that. I hoped you liked it, and this was my first romance fic, so I hope I did well. *smiles shakily*. As always, flames=s'mores, CC wanted and praised, and please ****review****! **


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